DRAMACENTRELONDONPROSPECTUS 2016/17

Contents

Welcome 3

Introduction 4

Links with the Profession 5

The Methodological Approach 7

Foundation Studies in Performance 9

BA (Honours) Acting 11

MA Directing 15

MA Screen: Acting, Directing 17

MA Acting 20

MA Dramatic Writing 23

Summer School 26

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Welcome

Drama Centre offers its students a unique blend of training methods. As part of Central Saint Martins and the University of the Arts London, Drama Centre provides an international outlook, a central London location and excellent learning and performance facilities – they make studying at Drama Centre a profound and rewarding experience. Our courses are intended to enable you to develop a clear understanding of yourself as a creative person and therefore our students are distinguished by their flair, maturity and commitment. The courses in this prospectus are rigorous and demanding. Because they continually require you to extend yourself physically, psychologically and intellectually, you should find the work stimulating and enlightening. For the same reasons you are likely sometimes to find the work exacting. In exchange for your talent, we give you outstanding training programmes in a supportive and highly creative environment.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Jonathan MartinPrincipal

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Introduction

Drama Centre LondonEstablished in 1963 by a visionary group of students who followed the three founding directors – John Blatchley, Christopher Fettes and Yat Malmgren – on an extraordinary theatrical adventure, Drama Centre has always offered an inspirational and passionate environment for those who are resolutely serious about their careers in acting, directing and writing. Its distinctive approach, originally developed under the patronage of some of the most important figures in post-war drama, such as Peter Brook, Martha Graham and Sir Peter Hall, continues to be guided by a distinguished Advisory Board, currently chaired by Christopher, former Artistic Director of the Library Theatre, Manchester. Drama Centre is relatively small and therefore highly selective. Its size ensures that every student receives personal attention and enables performance opportunities to be responsive to the individual needs of students.

Central Saint MartinsSince 1999, Drama Centre has been part of Central Saint Martins. Central Saint Martins has a distinguished international reputation and offers the most diverse and comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in art, design and performance in the country, including acting, directing, writing, and performance design and practice.

Central Saint Martins is one of the six colleges that together make up the University of the Arts London, one of the world’s largest academic centres for the arts, design and performance. As University of the Arts London students, Drama Centre students have access to a range of services, including: advice on accommodation and careers; special support for international students; specialist libraries; internet and intranet facilities; a language centre; professional counselling and support for students with disabilities.

Central Saint Martins at King’s CrossIn 2011 Central Saint Martins, Drama Centre included, brought together its world-leading expertise in fashion, art, design and performance onto one site on a new purpose-built campus, located within the 48-acre development behind King’s Cross station. This new campus is the largest specialist building of its kind in central London, bringing together nearly 4,000 of the world’s most creative young people, alongside the leading professional designers, artists and performers who work at the College. Drama Centre is part of the Drama and Performance programme, a grouping of Drama Centre and Performance orientated courses in the college.

It’s great to be in a building full of people who have a love of art. The fantastic and professional facilities offer invaluable and inspiring opportunities to createJames SmithDiploma in Foundation Performance graduate

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Links with the Profession

EmploymentThe theatre and film professions have changed beyond recognition over the course of the past three decades. Answering the demands of a global economy, they have become part of a complex industry for which you will need careful preparation. Drama Centre places the greatest importance upon providing you with the opportunity to meet practitioners from all aspects of the profession: agents, casting directors, union representatives, directors of national companies or fringe theatres, independent producers, film makers and established television and film directors. Following an agreement between Equity and Drama UK, graduates from either a BA or an MA course at Drama Centre will be able to join Equity as full members on graduation.

In the advanced stages of their courses, students are encouraged to undertake professional work whenever this is equivalent to course work. Drama Centre responds positively to enquiries from casting directors, theatres and film companies and organizes auditions for specific projects. As a result, in the past few years, students undertook while still training a substantial number of professional engagements as actors and assistant directors, including:

The Inbetweeners – UK feature film‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore – West Yorkshire PlayhouseBlack Watch – National Theatre of Scotland and

BarbicanThe Pre-Raphaelites – BBC1Garrow’s Law – BBC ScotlandA Midsummer Night’s Dream and Marat/Sade –

Royal Shakespeare CompanyUnder Milk Wood – Tricycle TheatreWaterloo Road – BBC1Any Given Day – Traverse, EdinburghThe Sarah-Jane Adventures – BBC 1The Physicists – Donmar WarehouseHomeland – Fox 21

Anastasia Hille

Frances de la Tour

Lucy Briggs-Owen

Ian Hogg Helen McCroryGeraldine James

Emilia Clarke

Russel BrandGeorge Anton Santiago CabreraPierce BrosnanPaul Bettany

Rupert Frazer

Tom Hardy

Anne-Marie Duff Michael Fassbender Colin Firth Tara Fitzgerald

Penelope Wilton

John Simm

Lambert WilsonPolly Walker Don Warrington Stephen Wight

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Drama Centre also enters selected students for the Sam Wanamaker Festival at Shakespeare’s Globe and BBC Radio Drama’s Carleton Hobbs competition.

Early Career SupportThe Centre operates a ‘Networking and Mentoring’ scheme through which students approaching their finals are encouraged to find mentors with graduates from earlier years and other professionals who explain the realities of the industry; introduce them to agents, casting directors and other professional contacts; offer advice on audition material and presentation techniques and form a useful support network in the, often difficult, early years after graduation. Graduating students are also encouraged and supported to form companies and develop projects during the initial stages of their careers.

Professional SupportGary Davy (CDG), our Casting Adviser, will guide you throughout your course. In his 15 year career, Gary has cast film and television productions, including UK Casting on HBO’s Band of Brothers, BBC period dramas Garrow’s Law, Death Comes to Pemberley, SKY Atlantic’s Fleming. He has cast varied films ranging from Nick Cave/John Hillcoat’s Australian western The Proposition to Vertigo’s Streetdance 3D. Gary worked with film directors Alex Cox, Simon Curtis, Nick Love and cast Steve McQueen’s first feature Hunger. Gary also mentors at The National Youth Theatre.

The Centre’s activities are guided by an Advisory Board; its members are Nikolai Foster, Stuart Fox, Natalie Grady, Aaron Harris, Chris Honer (chair), Helen McCrory, Joseph Millson, Adrian Noble, Rungano Nyoni, John Retallack and Jack Shepherd. In addition, the Centre organises public talks and question and answer sessions with leading members of the profession.

International LinksThe Centre has an extensive portfolio of international connections, which enables students and staff to benefit from alternative points of view and perspectives gained by studying or working in leading institutions overseas. Thus, a well-developed link with the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA has enabled individual students to replace a term at Drama Centre with a period of study in the States.

Similar arrangements are in place for selected students with the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow and other distinguished international partners. By the same token, you are likely to encounter students and staff from these and other institutions who come to study or teach at Drama Centre and bring with them a rich variety of cultural perspectives.

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The Methodological Approach

Training at Drama Centre is characterised by a high level of integration across all disciplines, ensuring that students develop systematically, term after term, across the full range of professional skills and aptitudes. The Centre’s distinctive approach includes:

StanislavskiThe most famous and detailed of all systems and the point of departure for most subsequent developments. Training at Drama Centre reflects both the Russian and the American methodologies, combining the approaches of Stanislavski and Vakhtangov with those of Uta Hagen, Herbert Bergof and Stanford Meisner. The teaching therefore ensures a balance between the requirements of the stage on the one hand and of film and television on the other.

German Expressionism and the Legacy of Rudolf LabanDrama Centre was created around the work of Dr. Yat Malmgren, one of the great solo artists of European modern dance and the creator of the Laban-Malmgren System of Character Analysis. His unique contribution developed the theoretical work on the psychology of movement initiated by Rudolf Laban, the visionary innovator in the field of choreography and movement theory. Character Analysis remains at the core of Drama Centre approach and is taught across all of our higher education courses.

Yat Malmgren

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ImprovisationFollowing in the footsteps of great originals such as Joan Littlewood and Mike Leigh, Drama Centre adopts an eclectic approach that fuses the contributions of the modern masters, Brecht and Le Coq, placing at the heart of its work the exploration of character, story and dramatic relationships through improvisation. This approach also involves actors, directors and writers in active research into the social background of the dramatic text and places political awareness at the forefront of their work. Drama Centre lays great emphasis on applying these techniques to the recorded media (film, radio, television) as much as to the stage, offering an advanced course entirely dedicated to the screen.

Student IndividualityDrama Centre seeks above all to develop its students’ individuality, technical skills and professional outlook to the point where they become independent artists, committed to the management and development of their creative and expressive resources. Its culture is one of patient development and profound enquiry into acting, directing and dramatic writing, which are seen above all as art forms. The Centre’s ethos is based on concentration, discipline and a seriousness of approach to the arts of the stage and screen.

At Drama Centre you learn that being an actor is not a part time job. Every day, every experience, every moment of your life is a precious tool that can help your imagination fuel your ability to tell a story – passionately, organically and truthfullyRuta GedmintasBA Acting graduate

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Foundation Studies in Performance

The Foundation course enables you to test your expectations and aspirations against the realities of vocational training and work. The course addresses itself to those who wish to improve their acting, directing, writing and other performance skills. Students can thus prepare for further study in higher education, mainly at vocational drama schools. Over recent years graduates of the course gained offers of places at drama schools and elsewhere in drama higher education, including at: ALRA, Arts Ed, Bristol Old Vic, Central, Drama Centre, East 15, GSA, Guildhall, Italia Conti, LAMDA, LIPA, Manchester Met, Mountview, Oxford School of Drama, RCS, Rose Bruford and RWCMD. Several graduates have gained places to train abroad (including CalArts and Stella Adler), while some have entered academic university courses or gone on to professional engagements.

The course enhances your capacity to learn in a disciplined, organised manner and develop the skills that lead to self-reliant learning. The course develops your critical awareness of contemporary performance and enables you to articulate your ideas both in writing and orally. Foundation in Performance is fully based in the practice of performance, delivered within a leading drama conservatoire, thus benefitting from the high levels of expertise of the professional staff at Drama Centre. Classes in acting, movement, voice, improvisation, acting for camera and audition technique enable you to develop the key skills necessary to succeed in future auditions.

1 year, full-time (30 weeks)Leading to Trinity Guildhall Diploma – ATCL Performing (Performance Arts)Course Leader: Richard Williams BA (Hons), Cert. Ed. (Oxon)

Getting Foundation students prepared for auditioning is given a lot of time and is really important to the staff. Additional tutors, who work on audition panels, are asked to come for individual sessions of preparation and the other teachers also take these special classes. Students show each other their monologues, go through a whole audition process and give each other adviceZachary FallFoundation in Performance and BA Acting graduate

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BA (Honours) Acting

The BA Acting course combines classes in acting, character analysis, movement, music and singing, voice and speech and play analysis, with preparation for working in the acting profession. The classes are fully integrated and designed to address the individual needs and aspirations of each student. Assessment is based entirely on performance and class work.

Life and Study on the BA Acting CourseThe official day starts at 9.30am and finishes well into the evening, often around 8.30pm. In your first year, a typical day consists of four or five 90-minute classes followed by rehearsals for the play which becomes the focus of each term’s work. The two morning classes are normally a combination of Movement, Voice or Acting. After lunch work continues with Improvisation, Singing or a study for Character Analysis. Rehearsal sessions usually last three to four hours and often involve a ‘call system’ allowing time off to learn lines, prepare work for other classes or to research.

The plays for Rehearsal are likely to be drawn in the main from the classical repertoire: Drama Centre lays a heavy emphasis on the classics and on the ways in which rhetorical speech and classical text convey hidden meanings. The programme of plays stretches from the Jacobeans and the Restoration to the best of the French, German and Spanish dramatic literatures. At the same time, the Centre lays increasing stress on new writing and screen work. Acting for Camera begins in the first year and is fully integrated with other acting classes, enabling the transition between stage and screen to become second nature. In the third year you write and devise short films with student directors and often work on their graduation films and productions. Equally, Radio acting is taught from the second year and leads to a professionally produced ‘show reel’. Selected students from this course are entered for the Carleton Hobbs competition, run by BBC Radio.

3 years, full-timeCourse Leader: Seb Harcombe

In a class of only sixteen students with a longer working day than any other drama school, the quantity and quality of one-on-one teacher student training at Drama Centre London is invaluable. This is so much more than just an actor training, this is a unique and specific discipline taught only at Drama Centre that will continue to inform and enrich our acting careers for years to come. In addition to all the tools you would expect to have upon graduating from a three year actor training, Drama Centre gives you a language and a methodology with which to understand the art of transformationEva-Jane WillisBA Acting graduate

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You are guided by staff with extensive teaching and professional experience throughout your training. The Centre’s core team is complemented by a large number of visiting professionals who bring into the rehearsal room their up-to-date knowledge of the industry.

RehearsalsIn-depth rehearsals and presentations of plays taken from a variety of traditions, periods and styles give you the opportunity to put the lessons you have learnt into practice. The repertoire progresses from naturalistic drama and comedy to the great poetic masterpieces of the English canon. Final year public productions often stretch you beyond the point that might be expected on first entering the profession. The audience attending these fully mounted productions often includes members of the profession, thus affording a useful showcase for future employment.

ActingThe purpose of the acting class is to help you deepen your emotional resources so as to bring the spontaneity of life to performance in the most demanding classical roles. Improvised exercises, designed to free you physically and emotionally, provide a basis for complete identification with the character. You are taught how to explore relationships and to make the surroundings and objects in the play specific and meaningful. The motives and intentions of the character are analysed subjectively in order to lead you to a true creative state while on the stage. Through practical exercises, this class examines fundamental acting questions relating to the essence, circumstances and relationships of a character. This core methodology is complemented with alternative approaches, including: physical theatre in the

Russian, Vakhtangov tradition and Brecht’s ‘epic’ outlook on performance. Screen and radio acting are fully integrated into the acting programme from year two and enable you to become as confident with recorded media technology as you are on the stage.

Character Analysis and Movement PsychologyThis class sets out to examine the relationship of feeling and expression in the act of performance. A unique synthesis of Laban’s movement theory, Jungian psychology and Stanislavskian acting, the class develops the pioneering work of Yat Malmgren. You will be asked to devise and perform ‘scenarios’ based on both experience and observation. The class investigates the basis of characterization and transformation and examines how physical and psychological relationships reflect the different impulses experienced by the actor on stage.

Theatre AnalysisThis class is concerned primarily with problems of interpretation and examines ways in which actors or directors can relate the circumstances of the play to their own experience and to fundamental preoccupations, be they philosophical, ethical or religious. It introduces you to ‘an idea of the theatre’ developing and changing, from country to country and from age to age. A series of research projects – often student-led – examine the creative impulse behind representative works of various periods in order to assess their relevance, if any, to the present.

Voice and SpeechIn the past, the pulpit, the bar, the floor of the Houses of Parliament – the models upon which speech in classic drama is based – underlined for everybody the rhetorical functions of language. Today, the responsibility lies with the actor to uphold that vigour. The aim of the class is to encourage an

Every single day at Drama Centre there is the possibility of finding out something new, either about yourself or your acting, or just your general lack of knowledge in certain areas, be it music, how the human body technically supports and helps you develop as an actor, the history of theatre or even the name of that ballet step you can’t do… yetHugh JohnBA Acting student

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awareness of the naturally expressive qualities of the voice and to bring them under control; to gain freedom and flexibility in the use of the breath, resonance and words; to remedy faulty speech habits and explore a range of regional dialects. Great emphasis is placed on poetry – lyrical as well as dramatic – and on the interpretation of complex texts.

MovementTheatre confronts the young artist with the daunting task of making both mind and body instruments of artistic expression. ‘Mimesis’, the process of physical transformation, has always been recognized as the supreme achievement of the actor. Even when this capacity is not to the fore, it still demands of the actor the carefully crafted creation of a public persona. Training of the body therefore lays particular emphasis on the development of extreme sensitivity to psychological impulse and the acquisition of mastery over one’s means of expression. In addition, the movement programme incorporates highly skilled elements such as armed and unarmed combat as well as period and social dance, both linked to specific acting problems and styles.

Music and SingingMusic constitutes an indispensable part of the training because an ability to explore what may be created through sound sharpens the actors’ sensitivity to their own art. The class explores different modes of making music, ranging from percussion-based improvisation to notation and basic composition. Music is seen as a close ally of other disciplines taught at the Centre, addressing common concerns relating to rhythm, pitch, tempo, expressiveness and gesture. The singing class is designed not only to impart a working knowledge of singing technique for the stage, but also to develop your vocal resources.

When I left Cambridge I felt quite proud of what I’d achieved there. I still do, but it was only when I got here that I realised how limited my education had been. Drama Centre asks and encourages you to use every aspect of yourself. I feel like my education didn’t start until I got hereRobert DonnellyBA Acting graduate

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The training is endlessly stimulating, exciting and tough. It provides realistic preparation, not just for the profession, but for life itselfGwendoline ChristieBA Acting graduate

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MA Directing

Integrated MastersGraduates of the BA (Hons) Directing course, which preceded our new Integrated Masters, have directed for leading regional theatre companies, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and for theatre companies in Finland, Iceland, Israel, Iran and Portugal. The course addresses itself equally to those interested in directing for the theatre and for the recorded media (film, television and radio). Films produced by graduates have also been shown at a number of festivals across Europe. In all cases, the course provides a common platform of in-depth study of action and storytelling, allied with the art of the actor so as to enable future directors to have an organic understanding of the acting process and a common language with performers.

What distinguishes this directors’ training is the opportunity to practise and understand the art of acting. You work alongside the BA Acting students for the best part of two years, whilst learning about the craft of directing: text analysis, historical context, visual awareness and the methodologies of key theatre and film directors.

During the course you also have the opportunity to collaborate with other members of the artistic team: designers, musical directors, choreographers, fight directors, editors, sound engineers, etc. In the latter stages of the course you have two opportunities for placements, totalling 12 weeks, with a variety of theatre and film companies during which you may observe not only artistic work, but also aspects of technical production, management, publicity, marketing and outreach. These are designed to give you a direct view of different aspects of the industry as well as to help you find your way in the profession. In recent years placement opportunities were offered, amongst others, by:

4 years, full-timeCourse Leader: Anthony ClarkDrama Centre is a member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain

From the beginning of the course one spends a great deal of time with trainee actors. Being able to work alongside actors has enabled me to gain an intimate understanding of the acting process through my own experimentation and observation of others, an understanding key to a directorJonathan HumphreysBA Directing graduate

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Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale at Shared ExperiencePaul Miller at the Soho TheatreKenny Miller at the Theatre Royal, Stratford EastDi Trevis at Watford Theatre and for Quantum

Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, USABetty TV, documentary companyThe Mob, film and commercials production companyThe Arcola TheatreThe Citizens Theatre, GlasgowTrademark FilmsThe Lyric, BelfastSalisbury PlayhouseThe Orange Tree, RichmondPaines PloughThe Gate Theatre, Notting HillHull TruckNorthern StageThe Vakhtangov in MoscowBattersea Arts CentreMatthew Warchus on the musical Ghost

(Number 1 tour)

In the fourth year’s training you will receive extended opportunities to practise your craft as well as completing a dissertation on a chosen aspect of directing.

I came to Drama Centre to study theatre directing, even though my background is in film. I was a little bit sceptical if I could develop my film- and theatre-directing skills together and thought rather that I would have to focus on one or the

other. I was very wrong. Drama Centre proved to be about understanding the form, the function, the drama and the historical context of your work. It’s all about storytelling. So no matter if you want to be a theatre or a film director, Drama Centre

will give you the skills to understand the most essential part of the work, which dictates all your other choices: the story, and the skills to make it living and breathing through performanceTommi ErkkoBA Directing graduate

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MA Screen: Acting, Directing

The two MA Screen courses prepare you for work in the film, television and related industries by enabling the development of understanding and skills common to performers and their artistic collaborators. You register for either the Screen Acting or the Screen Directing Course. However, regardless of which Course you are on, you will spend much of your time working on projects jointly with colleagues from other disciplines. Please note that these courses start in January: Directing runs through a whole calendar year, finishing in December; Acting has an additional term and finishes at Easter.

Course ContentAt the heart of the courses is the development of individual creativity, achieved through constant opportunities for working on camera-based projects. The courses are characterised by their performance-led approach to filmed and recorded drama; their ‘company’ operating model and by the opportunities they offer to realise in practice students’ scripts, directing ideas or performance abilities. Like other Drama Centre courses, the MA Screen offers a full range of professional practice preparation, connecting students with experienced professionals and former course alumni. Throughout, the courses emphasise ‘filmic’ approaches, in particular those relating to narrative structure and visual storytelling. These principles apply equally to projects recorded on audio tape or devised. In summary, the courses are characterised by the following:

• performance-led approach to recorded drama, with a high level of acting involvement for all students

• work in companies formed of a small number of actors, normally working alongside a director and/or script writer

Screen Acting: 2 years (60 weeks), full-time extended (30 hours per week)

Screen Directing, Writing: Pathways in Directing or Scriptwriting for the screen – 1 year (45 weeks), full-time (40 hours per week).NB The Screen Writing pathway is currently suspended

Course Leader: Michael BrayDrama Centre is a member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain and the National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image (NAHEMI)

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• consequent acquisition of a deep understanding of the processes leading to the creation of filmed and recorded drama

• professionally-based learning model preparing graduates for direct entry to work

• production of drama programmes on digital film and recorded voice (Acting)

• creating and realising new writing or adaptations through collaboration with other courses

• work on the technical aspects of production.

Screen Acting CourseKey features of the Screen Acting course are:

• an extended programme of Acting Skills such as acting methodologies; screen acting techniques; voice; movement; improvisation

• projects applying acting skills to the creation of dramas in professional conditions

• a Radio Drama project: microphone techniques; acting in radio drama; voice-overs; commercials; audio books

• a course in Improvisation and Devising Skills

• an extended programme of Professional Preparation, including help with seeking agent representation; auditioning for film and TV work; workshops with film and television directors, producers, casting directors.

Screen Directing CourseKey features of the Directing Course are:

• high integration with the acting programme, involving participation in and observation of classes in acting, voice, movement and improvisation.

• an extended programme of Directing Skills such as directing methods; characterisation; text interpretation; character movement; improvisation techniques; visual awareness

• major projects applying directing skills to the

creation of dramas in professional conditions, working alongside actors and writers from other courses. During these projects you crew and edit under professional supervision; act as assistant director to experienced professionals; direct your own films

• a course in Improvisation and Devising Skills

• an extended programme of Professional Preparation, including advice about entering the profession; workshops with leading directors, producers, directors’ agents; and practical exercises in planning, budgeting and producing future professional work.

“Whenever I met those in the professional field they would say that Drama Centre had produced the best actors they had ever worked with, that it was rumoured to have the best teachers, the most up to the minute syllabus. To live up to the enormous expectations I had placed on it seems

almost impossible, but from the moment I walked in for the first time, I felt like I was at home and was overtaken by a fever to study here. The students were kind and unpretentious, the teachers ready to help and full of a real love for their jobsAislinn De’AthMA Screen graduate

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MA Acting

MA Acting at Drama Centre London is an intensive 45 week conservatoire Actor training – 8 weeks of which are spent in Moscow. Skills classes in Voice, Movement, Neutral Mask, Ballet, Period Dance, Speech and Acting underpin a programme of scene study, which embraces the Greeks through to Contemporary drama, with particular emphasis on Shakespeare and Chekhov. MA Acting is primarily a stage-acting course which focuses on the techniques developed to address the demands posed by the great European classics.

Course ContentClassical theatre is a rewarding route to the general training of actors, offering a solid grounding in acting technique, rooted in the long-established traditions of England and Russia, which are widely considered to be the foremost exponents of the art of the actor. Throughout, this postgraduate course emphasises theatrical approaches, in particular those relating to narrative structures, movement expression and the conveyance of complex texts by means of a rich, well-trained voice. Questions of text and subtext are explored in detail. MA Acting approaches performance in ways specifically addressing the needs of the Jacobean stage: focusing on vocal accuracy with speed, expressivity on a large scale, engagement with the audience. In addition, the course encourages you to develop skills required by the realist style: multi-layered characterisation, recognising the subtle rapport between text and sub-text, being ‘private in public’. MA Acting reflects the general ethos of Drama Centre London. The Centre’s distinctive approach includes: The Stanislavsky System, German Expressionism and the legacy of Rudolph Laban & Improvisation.

1 year (45 weeks), full time (30 hours per week)Course Leader: Paul Goodwin ma

The MA Acting course gave me the opportunity to act in different genres, in an environment that encouraged me to take risks, with like minded people - which allowed me to grow and feel confident when I graduated and started auditioningEdward HolcroftMA Acting graduate

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Course StructureMA Acting is structured in 2 units over 45 weeks: Unit 1 (weeks 1-15) “Skills and techniques of Acting” and Unit 2 (weeks 16-45) “The practice of Acting”. 8 weeks are spent at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, known as the Vakhtangov Institute, in Moscow - one of the foremost conservatoire drama schools in Russia.

A typical week for MA Acting students will be: 3 hours Voice, 3 hours Movement, 1.5 hours Ballet, 1.5 hours Speech, 1.5 hours Period Dance, 1.5 hours Neutral Mask, 8 hours Acting Technique and 10 hours Rehearsal. This intensive pattern, with skills classes underpinning rehearsals, carries on for all 45 weeks of the postgraduate course. All of the above classes

and rehearsals are “taught time” – contact hours on MA Acting are high, with additional time spent preparing either by yourself or with fellow students – it is an intensive postgraduate course, physically and emotionally demanding.

Our PartnerWhile most of the study takes place at Drama Centre, an extended unit takes place at our partner institution. The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute has been in existence for a century, having been established in October 1914 by the great Russian director Evgeny Vakhtangov, and is known as the Vakhtangov School. The youngest of Stanislavsky’s great pupils, Vakhtangov created the school of

‘fantastic realism’, an original synthesis between Stanislavsky’s naturalism and the extreme physical approach adopted by Meyerhold. During eight weeks of study in Moscow you receive an intensive training in Russian classical acting methods. You engage in a practical investigation of characters and scenes by Chekhov and seek to respond to the range of artistic demands with which these challenge actors. You attend classes in acting, stage movement (including acrobatics), jazz dance and musical ensemble. At the end of your Moscow study you perform Chekhov scenes in front of an invited audience. Study in Moscow is in English, either directly or through simultaneous translation.

Professional PreparationThe final ten weeks of the course are spent back at Drama Centre, integrating your learning experience at the two institutions. This part of the course focuses on Professional Preparation. Classes continue in voice and movement, along with acting for the recorded media. There will be an opportunity to work on modern plays, which will be shown to an invited audience, as well as a fully produced Agents Showcase in September in the Platform Theatre in King’s Cross.

I chose an MA at Drama Centre as the course offered world-class tuition both in Moscow and London. The training was stage based, with a classical core which focussed on technique and skills. I was trained to be an actor for the

industry today, with acting for screen and radio classes and coaching from top industry professionals. The course gave me a practical methodology that I have taken into my acting careerMichael CorsaleMA Acting graduate

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The two months in Moscow were challenging and intense and definitely the highlight of the course for me. The rigour and passion of the teachers were infectious. An integral part of the teaching for me was the stage movement classes. The teaching methods re-enforced the importance of the physical in storytelling and that to work towards obtaining complete ‘truth’, we must fully marry the psychological with the physicalTamsin TopolskiMA Acting graduate

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MA Dramatic Writing

MA Dramatic Writing aspires to be at the forefront of dramatic writing training in the UK and the world. The course has been developed by 10 Masters, leading industry professionals, who have led the way on dramatic writing training in the UK. They are:

• Ola Animashawun, founder of the Royal Court Theatre’s young writers programme

• Stephen Jeffreys, Literary Associate at the Royal Court Theatre for eleven years

• Caroline Jester, a specialist in international collaborative projects

• Fin Kennedy, who won the first Fringe First ever awarded for a schools production

• Kate Rowland, creator of BBC Writersroom• Philip Shelley, who runs Channel Four’s

screenwriting course• Nina Steiger, Associate Director at the Soho

Theatre• Jennifer Tuckett, Course Leader for MA Dramatic

Writing who has led the way in the UK on industry partnered creative writing models

• Steve Winter, co-creator of the Old Vic New Voices 24 Hour Plays and T S Eliot exchange and Executive Director of the Kevin Spacey Foundation

• John Yorke, creator of the BBC Writers Academy

Course ContentMA Dramatic Writing is a two-year extended full time course. In Unit 1 students learn Skills and Practice, developing a craft skillset in all five forms of dramatic writing – writing for theatre, television, film, radio and digital media – and undertaking commissions and collaboration with other Drama Centre London courses and with the industry. In Unit 2, students embark on their major projects, writing a portfolio of finished work alongside continuing Masterclasses and work with the industry and

2 year (60 weeks), full time extended mode (15 hours per week)Course Leader: Jennifer Tuckett ma mfa

The experience of working with professionals on projects in a range of mediums has been amazing. From digital media to theatre, film, animation and television dramaLiberty MartinMA Dramatic Writing student

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I applied for a place on the Dramatic Writing MA at CSM as I was lost and had a misty dream inside me saying that maybe I would like to be able to write Drama. But god; I didn’t imagine then the enormity of the bite I was taking and the challenges of the journey, but also the glittering prize in the distance. You don’t think of that, you just are taught to take the bite, each step by step stage of the craft process and then you gradually open up and learn to trust and believe. I know in my heart now, this has been a journey of a lifetime and there was nowhere better to study this craft than this great academy of the arts. This journey has been inspiring, life affirming and mind blowing.Philip JonesMA Dramatic Writing student

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with actors, directors, designers, screenmakers and animators at Drama Centre London and Central Saint Martins. Students leave the course equipped with a craft skillset, connections to and understanding of the industry, a track record of industry and Drama Centre London work, collaborations and connections to a peer group of actors, directors, designers and film-makers and with a finished portfolio of work.

PartnershipsMA Dramatic Writing is unique in the extent to which it collaborates with the industry to provide the best possible training for writers in the UK. Past commissions and projects for students have included work with Old Vic New Voices, Tamasha Theatre Company, the English National Opera, the British Library and Conducttr, a new transmedia storytelling tool. Students help to organize the BBC TV Drama Writers Festival, BBC Writersroom Masterclasses and Fin Kennedy’s In Battalions Festival, all of which take place at the King's Cross campus. Students generally undertake industry and internal projects in their first year, building up a track record of work and contacts alongside their craft skillset, ready to undertake their Major Projects in their second year. Recent internal projects and commissions have included a short film project with BA Directing which led to one writer’s film winning a BBC Writersroom scheme, a project to create short animated films with MA Character Animation - these films have been selected for festivals around the world – and a New Writing Week with BA Acting and MA Directing, allowing students to collaborate and forge connections with the next generation of leading actors, directors and designers.

The MA in Dramatic Writing at Drama Centre is the best thing I have ever done for my writing. It has had a profound impact, that will continue to evolve over many years. If you are serious and passionate about writing, this is the course for you. The Masters who teach are all leading industry professionals with a deep rooted love of writers and what they do, their knowledge and respect are infectious. It’s no mistake that

I feel my work has improved exponentially, and that I can go to amazing places, armed with a good grasp of the tools a writer requires to rip a good story. As a lover of craft and technique, I could not have asked for more. I feel transformed, and optimistic. I am ready for the industry with a clear sight of what is required, and resolved to give writing what it deservesDan HorriganMA Dramatic Writing student

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Summer School

A London Theatre ExperienceThe Summer School – A London Theatre Experience Course at Drama Centre is aimed at 16-25 year old students who are interested in professional drama and wish to improve their acting, directing or other performance skills in order to make informed decisions about their future careers and widen their dramatic horizons. This is a full-time, three-week course run by Drama Centre annually.

The course enables you to experience the rigour and variety available in the field of drama and to test your expectations and aspirations against the realities of vocational training.

During the course you will gain a taste of what life in a leading drama school is like. We would like to enhance your capacity to learn in a disciplined, organised manner and develop skills leading to self-reliant learning. You will also develop your critical awareness of contemporary performance and will learn to express your ideas clearly and articulately.

The course is based fully in the practice of performance, delivered within a leading drama conservatoire, thus benefiting from the high levels of expertise of the professional staff at Drama Centre.

The teachers on the course will seek to help you widen your understanding of the various opportunities for careers in the field of drama. You may already feel that you are determined to pursue a career in acting or directing, for example. In this case, the course will help you to test your commitment and define your expectations. On the other hand, you may feel that, while attracted by the idea of working in drama, you are not yet sure of how your talent can be developed. If this is the case, then the course will help you explore your special aptitudes and enable you to make informed decisions about future studies.

The course offers a programme of drama classes and a programme of cultural events on the following lines:

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Drama classesThe Summer School combines classes in acting, physical and vocal studies, stage combat, Shakespeare, contemporary devising and radio. The classes seek to address the individual needs and aspirations of each student. They are 90 minutes long so that every student can have individual attention. There will be 3 or 4 sessions of drama classes per day: 2 in the morning and 1 or 2 in the afternoon, from 9.30am to 5.00pm, with a lunch break and tea breaks between classes. The course culminates in an informal showing in the Studio Theatre.

Cultural programmeYou will also participate in a structured programme, which will enable you to make full use of the rich cultural life of London at the time of your course.

A selection of five productions will be chosen from London’s world-class theatre. The course also offers a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon with a matinee performance at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

For details of entry requirements, dates, costs and how to book go to this page: insert link to website page for Summer School

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PrincipalJonathan Martin

Chairman of the Advisory BoardChristopher Honer

Casting AdviserGary Davy

Drama Centre LondonCentral Saint MartinsGranary Building1 Granary SquareKing’s CrossLondon, N1C 4AA

Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 8778Fax: +44 (0)20 7514 8777Email: drama@arts.ac.ukwww.arts.ac.uk/csm/drama-centre-london/

Central Saint Martins

Pro Vice-ChancellorProfessor Jeremy Till

The University of the Arts London

Vice-ChancellorNigel Carrington

272 High Holborn,London WC1V 7EYTel: +44 (0)20 7514 6000www.arts.ac.uk

Acknowledgements

Design: Adams Associates0208 962 6280

Production photographs: Mark Duffield Natasha MolchanovaSam OttoMichal Samir Trilokjit Sengupta

We have made all efforts to credit images correctly – please contact us if we have omitted to credit or miscredit any images. Amendments will be made to subsequent editions of this publication